Neck swap - screw holes don't line up

Switch625

Wasn't sure if this should go here or in the Making & Modding section so apologies if it's in the wrong place...

The neck on my 1996 Chinese Squier Strat has quite a bow in it, and the truss rod nut is just spinning so it can't be corrected. I picked up a 1996 Chinese Squier neck on ebay expecting it to be a simple swap over, except the screw holes don't quite line up with the body. I find it odd as both necks are within one month of each other but hey-ho, it is what it is. Maybe back then there wasn't any consistency in quality control.

What are my options? The holes on the replacement next are just slightly higher (by maybe 2mm) so I need to bring them down a bit to fit the body. My preferred option would probably be to fill the holes and drill new ones, rather than sanding down the neck pocket or the neck heel. I'd worry about screwing either up and would probably feel more comfortable with new holes, but would need to fill the existing ones as they'd be too close.

Thoughts and advice please...

WezV

best to plug  the old holes with some plugs cut from flatsawn maple... don't use dowels as the grain is going in the wrong direction.  This will make it good as new ready for drilling the new holes

abw1989

Filling and drilling is a fairly straight forward process. I had to do it with a neck I purchased due to wanting a carved heel and therefore a none standard neck screw pattern:

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/2192388/#Comment_2192388

I drilled out the holes in the neck heel with a 6mm bit and squidged in some wood glue before tapping in some 6mm dowels. Leave to dry then trim down and sand it flush. Clamp your new neck in place and mark through the holes from your neck pocket, or drill through as the body provides a good guide to stop your drill wandering.

Switch625

I was thinking of using some multi purpose wood filler as I already have that lying around - would that suffice?

Roland

Wood filler isn’t going to be as secure as wooden plugs.

ICBM

If the mismatch tends to pull the neck more tightly into the pocket rather than out of it - ie the holes in the neck are further away from the heel than the ones in the body - I think this is what you mean by 'higher', but please correct me if not - then you can probably open out the holes in the body slightly to get them to line up - they don't have to be tight in the body holes.

You can either use a drill, or a taper reamer from the pocket side - the screws will be at a very slight angle but it won't matter.

drwiddly

Definitely plug the holes with dowels not wood filler. Drill the holes out a bit if necessary (remember to mark the depth on the drill bit with tape so you don't go too deep!). Tap the dowel plugs in with a spot of Titebond and leave overnight. Make sure the plugs are flat or slightly sunken - you don't want any high spots.

Switch625

Roland said:

Wood filler isn’t going to be as secure as wooden plugs.

True, just a lot easier. But I guess plugs is the way to go.

ICBM said:

If the mismatch tends to pull the neck more tightly into the pocket rather than out of it - ie the holes in the neck are further away from the heel than the ones in the body - I think this is what you mean by 'higher', but please correct me if not - then you can probably open out the holes in the body slightly to get them to line up - they don't have to be tight in the body holes.

You can either use a drill, or a taper reamer from the pocket side - the screws will be at a very slight angle but it won't matter.

A bit confused with the above... but if I put the neck into the body and tap where the screws should go in to the neck... the indentation is slightly below the existing holes in the neck. I don't think opening up the body holes would help in this case.

drwiddly said:

Definitely plug the holes with dowels not wood filler. Drill the holes out a bit if necessary (remember to mark the depth on the drill bit with tape so you don't go too deep!). Tap the dowel plugs in with a spot of Titebond and leave overnight. Make sure the plugs are flat or slightly sunken - you don't want any high spots.

Ok looks like I'll have to do some research into it and get the right size dowels etc. What do you mean flat or slightly sunken - is that there's no overhang on the dowel sticking out?

ICBM

switch625 said:

A bit confused with the above... but if I put the neck into the body and tap where the screws should go in to the neck... the indentation is slightly below the existing holes in the neck. I don't think opening up the body holes would help in this case.

Below? Which direction is that - towards the heel, or towards the headstock? Or sideways?

If the mark is closer to the heel, so that forcing the screws into the holes would pull the neck more tightly into the body, then you can probably open out the holes if the offset isn't too great.

If you are going to fill the holes, wood filler is absolutely not suitable. The weakest material you can get away with is a dowel (hardwood, not softwood), but a side-cut maple plug is best.

ThePrettyDamned

I think I'd enlarge the holes in the body if it's only slight. The screws don't need to grab the body, just the neck - so long as the holes are hidden by the neck plate, it should be fine.

If it's more than a couple of mm it might be a plug job... 

ICBM

Actually, if it is a misalignment along the length of the neck, before going any further I would check that it isn't that the neck needs to go closer to the bridge. It would be annoying to plug and re-drill the screw holes, or even just enlarge the body holes, and then find it won't intonate correctly...

With the neck in the pocket, measure the distance from the nut to the top of the fret crown of the 12th fret on the side nearer the bridge, and then measure from the same place on the fret on the top E side of the neck to the top E bridge saddle. If those aren't very closely the same, the neck is in the wrong place.

Switch625

So if the top 2 holes towards the frets line up with the body, you can see where I've marked the new bottom holes (at the heel) need to be drilled (the blue dots):

And here's the original neck on the left, and the replacement on the right:

Switch625

This is the neck plate on the old neck:

And the new neck:

Philly_Q

It's hard to tell from the photos, but the upper holes on the new neck look a bit chewed up - suggesting perhaps it wasn't very well aligned on the body it came from!

ICBM

It looks like it’s just the two holes at the heel end that need to move. I would open out the holes in the body - they’re close enough.

The one on the right is not actually as far out as it’s marked if you look at where the centre of the neckplate hole is, which indicates that the problem is the hole alignment in the body.

Switch625

Yes maybe you're right... I could open up the holes a bit. Might be the easiest solution.